Geography Unit 1, Going Global Case Study 6 - Putting an island in touch with the world

25th October 2007 - The GuardianTokelau's islanders have added surfing the internet and social networking to more traditional pursuits.The South Pacific islands of Tokelau have seen enormous change in the past decade. Climate change has left three tiny atolls (coral islands) vulnerable to tidal surges and cyclones, while parts of the land have simply disappeared under the sea.Tokelau's islanders have traditionally lived by fishing for marlin and hahave (flying fish). But many species of fish have disappeared during the past generation, perhaps linked to the changing weather patterns. "Right now, our island should be warm and calm, but it's been raining for weeks," says Ionata O'Brien, minister of transport, energy and telecommunications. "Things are changing."It's not only the weather that has changed. Tokelau's young people used to swim and surf in their spare time, or played a Tokelauan version of cricket called Kilikiti. Today, they're just as likely to be downloading music or updating MySpace or Bebo pages. In fact, so many of the island's 100 children are using Bebo.com that the island's minister has set up his own Bebo page to talk to his young parishioners.None of this would have been possible six years ago. Then, most communications on Tokelau happened by radio, although there was a basic phone network and internet access at 9.6kbps.That all changed in 2001, when Dutch entrepreneur Joost Zuurbier visited Tokelau with a proposal: he would pay the islanders for the right to sell internet addresses with the Tokelauan .tk domain. "Hotmail had just been sold for a fortune, based on the idea of providing people with free email," says Zuurbier. "I was convinced there was a similar business to be made from providing free web addresses; I just needed to find a country that wasn't using its own domain."Perfect optionTokelau was the perfect option because it had no existing IT infrastructure, says Zuurbier. The elders agreed, but Zuurbier spent another 5 years convincing Icann that the deal was legitimate. As the body responsible for monitoring internet domain names, Icann has to approve any transfer or licensing of domains"It was ridiculously hard," says Zuurbier. First, DotTK had to agree to a joint venture with the Tokelauans, giving them a share of the profits. Second, Icann insisted on meeting the Tokelauan elders to check that Zuurbier's contract was real. Finally, Icann argued that the domain name servers should be located on the island.That, as it turns out, was a problem. At that time, Tokelau had virtually no communications infrastructure, and the power was turned off at midnight. "Fortunately, someone from Icann had worked on Tokelau previously and could verify that there was no way we could run a global network from here," says Aukustino Vitale, general manager of Teletok, Tokelau's telecoms venture.Once the deal was finalised, the Tokelauan elders formed Teletok to manage their new IT systems, and decide how the revenues from the DotTK service should be used. The revenues have grown rapidly, and now account for 10% of the island's total GDP.That money has been invested in a new communications infrastructure for Tokelau, including a high-speed satellite internet service, which enables residents to stream live radio and TV content, as well as use internet telephony services such as Skype. There is also a computer network that provides web access to 100 laptops in local internet cafes, schools and the island's hospital.The decision to use the revenue to fund communications technology was a popular one. There are 1 600 Tokelauans in Tokelau, but five times as many living overseas. That means a lot of Tokelauans with friends and relatives overseas, says Vitale. "Seeing people is very difficult because we are so remote," he says. Tokelau is a 48-hour boat trip from its nearest neighbour, Western Samoa - and the boat only runs once a fortnight. From there, it's another seven-hour flight to New Zealand.For yung Tokelauans - or "Tokes" as they call themselves online - the internet is opening up a whole new world. "I can use the internet to research school projects and find out things I can't find in the school library, but most of the time I use Bebo," says 13-year-old Lolo. "It means I can keep in touch with my extended family, even though I haven't met some of them."Lolo's parents are wary of the internet, and at first his mother would sit next to him whenever he used the laptop, but things are gradually changing. "I think she was worried I would access bad things, but the training I did with Teletok told me about the viruses you can get that way, which destroy important files on your computer."For other teenage Tokes, Bebo provides a platform for dating, flirting and showing off. Nineteen-year-old Luke's Bebo page cites his favourite music as "anythan dat mk da girlz get lo". Still, island culture hasn't completely disappeared - Luke's page also gives a "shout out" to the church and his minister ("he da SHIZZ!")Biggest problemPerhaps the biggest challenge is simply keeping the new technology running in such a challenging environment. "We get occasional hurricanes, so sometimes you'll build something, go back the next day and it's gone," says Vitale. "We've also lost two Cisco routers - one to the heat, and one to the fish."The island is vulnerable to power cuts and already uses solar power for 80% of the new equipment. In future, the island hopes to increase its use of renewable energy. "We are testing the potential to use solar panels to power houses. We are also investigating wind power and whether there is a power source if we use the oil from coconuts, which do grow on the island," Vitale says.Whatever the challenges, O'Brien is convinced that getting online can only benefit the people of Tokelau. "We're no longer isolated from the rest of the world," he says. "Knowing we can get better care for our children when they're ill, or help our students to extend their learning in their home towns - that's a great thing."

Putting an island in touch with the world